So here we are once again at the end of another calendar year. The same round-up as last year (10 albums get an honorable mention, the top 50, and 75 fantastic songs that just aren't represented in any of the aforementioned 60 albums). There are several notable absences from this list. First, David just didn’t come to life for me in any way. For whatever reason, I wasn’t able connect with an overtly generic indie band fronted by what is either a hardy contender for the Ultimate Warrior championship or a very disgruntled Cookie Monster. Furthermore, there just wasn’t any space on this list to set up a Throne large enough for two massive egos. If they wanted to make a case for how great they are, perhaps they should have started by showing off their editing skills. An hour-plus of mostly phoned-in performances doesn’t seem to send the right message. But enough with the snarky jabs, there was far too much great music released this year to focus on the small handful of inevitably overrated releases.
Mikal Cronin, Mikal Cronin
Key Track: “Apathy"
Thundercat, The Golden Age of Apocalypse
Key Track: “For Love I Come"
Handsome Furs, Sound Kapital
Key Track: “Bury Me Standing"
Wilco, The Whole Love
Key Track: “One Sunday Morning"
Marissa Nadler, Marissa Nadler
Key Track: “The Sun Always Reminds Me of You"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3808-Marissa_Nadler_Marissa_Nadler.html
Male Bonding, Endless Now
Key Track: “Bones"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3877-Male_Bonding_Endless_Now.html
Sepalcure, Sepalcure
Key Track: “Outside"
Junior Boys, It's All True
Key Track: “You'll Improve Me"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3799-Junior_Boys_It_s_All_True.html
Okkervil River, I Am Very Far
Key Track: “Your Past Life As a Blast"
Snowman, Absence
Key Track: “A Vanishing Point"
50. Toro Y Moi Underneath the Pine
Key Tracks: "Got Blinded", "New Beat"
49. Iron and Wine Kiss Each Other Clean
Key Tracks: "Glad Man Singing", "Walking Far From Home"
48. Youth Lagoon The Year of Hibernation
Key Tracks: "July", "17"
47. SBTRKT SBTRKT
Key Tracks: "Wildfire", "Ready Set Loop"
46. Feist Metals
Key Tracks: "The Circle Married the Line", "The Bad In Each Other"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3915-Feist_Metals.html
45. The Horrors Skying
Key Tracks: "Still Life", "Moving Further Away"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3846-The_Horrors_Skying.html
44. Colin Stetson New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Key Tracks: "Judges", "The Stars in His Head (Dark Lights Remix)"
43. Sandro Perri Impossible Spaces
Key Tracks: "Changes", "Wolfman"
42. Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
Key Tracks: "Youth Knows No Pain", "Silent My Song"
41. Julianna Barwick The Magic Place
Key Tracks: "White Flag", "The Magic Place"
40. Kate Bush 50 Words for Snow
Key Tracks: "Lake Tahoe", "Wild Man"
New Brigade
Key Tracks: "Broken Bone", "You're Blessed"
38. Ty Segall
Goodbye Bread
Key Tracks: "Goodbye Bread", "I Can't Feel It"
37. Big K.R.I.T.
Return of 4Eva
Key Tracks: "Dreamin'", "Lions and Lambs"
36. Cass McCombs
WIT's END
Key Tracks: "Buried Alive", "County Line"
35. Smith Westerns
Dye It Blonde
Key Tracks: "Weekend", "Smile"
34. Katy B
On a Mission
Key Tracks: "Power On Me", "Katy On a Mission"
33. Cults
Cults
Key Tracks: "Go Outside", "Abducted"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3795-Cults_Cults.html
32. TV on the Radio
Nine Types of Light
Key Tracks: "Second Song", "Killer Crane"
31. Frank Ocean
Nostalgia, Ultra
Key Tracks: "Novacane", "There Will Be Tears"
Smother
Key Tracks: "End Come Too Soon", "Bed of Nails"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3783-Wild_Beasts_Smother.html
29. Clams Casino
Instrumentals/Rainwater EP
Key Tracks: "Numb", "All I Need"
Read full review of Rainwater EP: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3826-Clams_Casino_Rainwater_EP.html
28. Gang Gang Dance
Eye Contact
Key Tracks: "Glass Jar", "MindKilla"
27. Tim Hecker
Ravedeath, 1972
Key Tracks: "The Piano Drop", "In The Air I"
26. Washed Out
Within and Without
Key Tracks: "Amor Fati", "Eyes Be Closed"
25. The War on Drugs
Slave Ambient
Key Tracks: "Baby Missiles", "Come to the City"
24. The Field
Looping State of Mind
Key Tracks: "Then It's White", "Is This Power"
23. Nicolas Jaar Space is Only Noise
Key Tracks: "Space Is Only Noise If You Can See", "Colomb"
22. Cut Copy
Zonoscope
Key Tracks: "Need You Now", "Where I'm Going"
21. Shabazz Palaces
Black Up
Key Tracks: "Free Press and Curl", "Swerve...The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)"
20. Beirut
The Rip Tide
Key Tracks: "The Rip Tide", "East Harlem"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3860-Beirut_The_Rip_Tide.html
19. The Antlers Burst Apart
Key Tracks: "Putting the Dog to Sleep", "Rolled Together"
18. Real Estate
Days
Few bands relish subtle pleasures quite like Real Estate does. The beauty of Days is letting those pleasures unfurl slowly over time. Guitar hooks buried in a haze of reverb reveal hidden details; melodies that seem to float by as casually as a breeze suddenly catch hold and become unshakable. The album is so unassuming that it’s easy to be caught completely off guard when you’re suddenly enraptured in its meticulously crafted splendor. Taking both the jangly and more pastoral sounds of the Go-Betweens and R.E.M., Real Estate gave them a soft-focused makeover. If the band’s debut was ideal for a day at the beach, Days kaleidoscopic tones gel perfectly with the cool autumn twilight it was released just in time for. That said, I won’t have a problem with letting it soundtrack plenty of other seasons to come.
Key Tracks: "It's Real", "Municipality"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3923-Real_Estate_Days.html
17. Panda Bear Tomboy
Key Tracks: "You Can Count on Me", "Last Night at the Jetty"
16. Atlas Sound Parallax
Key Tracks: "Lightworks", "Te Amo"
15. EMA Past Life Martyred Saints
Key Tracks: "The Grey Ship", "California"
14. Kurt Vile
Smoke Ring For My Halo
Key Tracks: "Ghost Town", "Jesus Fever"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3717-Kurt_Vile_Smoke_Ring_For_My_Halo.html
13. The Weeknd House of Balloons
After a simple read through of the lyrics to House of Balloons, you might mistake The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye for the creepiest dude on the planet. When he claims “we can test out the tables”, you can be sure nothing you’d want your mom to see is going to be happening on those tables. Throughout HoB, Tesfaye’s sculpts a complex portrayal of a nocturnal lifestyle that’s as decadent as it is unsettling. The album’s origins and place in the greater pop narrative have incited as much blogging as they have listening. These commentaries can be at times insightful but they ultimately distract from the album’s many charms. Forget about whether or not this is the future of R&B, forget about those hardly veiled Siouxsie and Beach House samples and forget about trying to figure out who Tesfaye is and where he came from and just enjoy the turbulent ride.
Key Tracks: "The Morning", "Loft Music"
12. Oneohtrix Point Never Replica
Key Tracks: "Replica", "Andro"
11. tUnE-yArDs
w h o k i l l
Key Tracks: "Powa", "Bizness"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3745-tUnE_yArDs_w_h_o_k_i_l_l.html
10. Drake Take Care
Hip-hop continued its collision with the futuristic R&B of Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, et al., and yet, as Drake seems to be embracing this trend, he remains inimitable; a truly singular artist and one who shows growth with each passing release. Taking the dark sonics of the aforementioned artists and giving them a more hushed tone, Drake manages to focus as much on melody as he does his flow and Take Care is all the better for it. Sure, it's easy to dismiss an artist as sincere as he is as sappy or overly sentimental, but in truth, he's able to skirt that line without truly going over it. And even in the post-Kanye hip-hop realm we're in, that line is one precious few rappers out there are even willing to come within a mile of.
Key Tracks: "Marvins Room - Buried Alive", "Over My Dead Body", "Shot for Me"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3955-Drake_Take_Care.html
9. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
Helplessness Blues found Fleet Foxes finding intriguing ways to expand their palette all the while keeping their pre-existing style intact. Nothing on the record came as a big surprise or felt like the work of another band so much as the work of a band looking for new ways to stretch their existing formula. The album may not be as immediate or as consistent as its pristine predecessor but it's still a qualified success on nearly every level. Everything we've come to love about Fleet Foxes is here in abundance and the band's considered approach has kept them expanding their sound in consistently rewarding ways.
Key Tracks: "Grown Ocean", "Montezuma", "The Shrine / An Argument"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3759-Fleet_Foxes_Helplessness_Blues.html
8. Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Girls have never exactly been about originality. Nothing they do is evenly mildly innovative. Furthermore, it feels like they’re becoming more and more comfortable wearing their classic rock influences on their sleeve with each passing release. And yet somehow there is an inescapable imagination and freshness being emitted out of every song. Front man Christopher Owens’ unique persona and ear for a great (if, often familiar) melody definitely play a part. But what has really sets the band apart on Father, Son, Holy Ghost, is the sheer vitality that oozes out of the band’s every pore. Every earnest note is carried out with precision and power.
Key Tracks: "Vomit", "Magic", "Alex"
7. Destroyer Kaputt
Between the Bruce Hornsby and the Range aping closer on Bon Iver to the sax solo at the end of “Midnight City”, 2011 seemed to be the year many artists started turning to some of the less fashionable aspects of 80’s music for inspiration. The biggest shocker was just how engaging and impressively tasteful a lot of it turned out to be. And no one delved so thoroughly into these influences and came out with gold quite like Destroyer. Kaputt is a cavalcade of jazzed out, 80’s mining riches. Indie artists used to run from chorus laden guitar riffs, reverb affected saxes and digital synth arpeggiators. But here they provide the perfect backdrop for recounting days spent chasing cocaine and dreaming about once-influential, UK-based music mags. Dan Bejar apparently has a knack for making this kind of sophisticated pop so striking, quite unlike anyone since Bryan Ferry.
Key Tracks: "Kaputt", "Downtown", "Song For America"
6. James Blake James Blake
One of the most innovative artists to come out of the last few years, James Blake’s first full length turned out to be a bit divisive. Combining the post-dubstep of his early EP’s with piano balladeer songwriting had many scratching their heads wondering just what Blake was intending. For those that stuck with it, the album turned out to be quite remarkable, using space to emphasize all of the best parts.
Key Tracks: "Wilhelms Scream", "Unluck", "Lindesfarne II"
5. Radiohead The King of Limbs
Quite possibly the most anticipated— and ultimately divisive— albums of the year, The King of Limbs was another left turn in a discography full of them. Released within days of being announced, TKoL ended up being a puzzling first listen, coming off as both disorienting and austere. As I stated in my review of the album earlier in the year, I certainly respect and even appreciate the band's desire for the communal experience exemplified when everyone is able to hear these songs for the first time at the same time, but it did lead to a rush of snap judgments that littered the web. Ultimately, many of the album’s biggest critics came around (although still remain on the unconvinced), proving that Radiohead is band whose work requires time and attention before the rewards are reaped. It’s an album that holds its own in one of the most impressive catalogues of any band ever.
Key Tracks: "Separator", Give Up the Ghost", "Lotus Flower"
Read full review: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3710-Radiohead_The_King_of_Limbs.html
4. M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
The most accurate description of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming you’re likely to read came from Anthony Gonzalez himself: it’s “very, very, very epic”. Although he’s never been one to shy away from massive soundscapes, M83’s latest opus is easily one of the most deliberately epics albums I have ever listened to. And yet Gonzalez does a remarkable job of not letting his ambitions get in the way of good taste. In a year that gave us Radiohead’s shortest album, James Blake’s sparse debut full-length and the return of Bon Iver’s introspection, Hurry Up was just what 2011 was missing. A bold, dramatic, over-sized and ultimately, deeply satisfying double album pushing the limits of just how colossal things can get before they become ridiculous.
Hurry Up also succeeds is in its wide range. While glowing blockbuster anthems like “Midnight City” and “Claudia Lewis” truly shine, Gonzalez allows the quieter moments carry just as much weight. Indeed, tracks like the gorgeous “Soon, My Friend” and “Splendor” are arguably just as impactful in their hushed beauty as the larger-than-life moments that get most of the attention. All told, no other album in 2011 felt quite as boundless as Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
Key Tracks: "Midnight City", "Soon, My Friend", "Claudia Lewis"
3. St. Vincent Strange Mercy
One of my fondest musical moments of 2011 was seeing Annie Clark rip into her guitar for an entire 90 minute set in amazing fashion. Her playing sounded like it came from another dimension. Nowhere on her previous two records was her frenetic style apparent, but her third album Strange Mercy, is another story. Half the time it would be easy to confuse her feverish squall for a moog or some other unidentified device altogether. It plays the perfect counterpart to her off-kilter vocals. Moving from a coy croon to a frenzied cry in seconds, Clark proved it was possible for her to improve Actor, as unlikely as that seemed.
Key Tracks: "Cruel", "Surgeon", "Strange Mercy"
2. PJ Harvey Let England Shake
In a year that generally lacked consensus, there is a very short list of albums everyone could agree on. PJ Harvey’s eighth solo full-length is at the top of that list and for good reason. Aside from top form songwriting, the album is a harrowing journey through the ugliness of war that’s as compelling as it is unlikely. Despite the anti-war song’s rich legacy in the annals of rock and roll history, the 21st century thus far has been littered with songs about war that are simply too preachy and inconsequential for their own good. PJ Harvey rises above this challenge in amazing fashion, creating an entire album centered around the gruesome realities of war. By playing the narrator lost in a sea of bloodshed, Harvey paints a harrowing picture of soldiers falling “like lumps of meat” with “flesh quivering in the heat”. Much like the way a great war movie plays out, there is no proselytizing here, the blood, drama and debris all speak for themselves. This shouldn’t be so easy to listen to, but musically the album is chalked full of gorgeous reverberating autoharp progressions and some of Harvey’s best melodies to date.
Key Tracks: "The Days That Maketh Murder", "The Glorious Land", "Let England Shake"
1. Bon Iver Bon Iver
Moving away from the snowed-in, stripped-down solitude of For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon gave us one of the most brilliant artist re-inventions of the year. Showing off his range as both a vocalist and songwriter, Bon Iver is a dense, ambitious masterwork. Squeezing in as many different instruments as possible, Vernon crams each song with sound, resulting in just under 40 minutes of grade A material (with exception of the curious closer “Beth/Rest”, which clearly moves into B territory). It works because there’s a clear ebb and flow to the arrangements. The effort Vernon put in to this record is palpable and the rewards are great. It just may be the finest album released so far in this young decade.
Key Tracks: "Holocene", "Calgary", "Perth"
And now, in case that isn't enough music, here are the top 75 songs you won't find any of the records above (and they are well worth checking out!):
75. Austra, “Beat and Pulse”
74. Tyler, the Creator, “Yonkers”
73. Cass McCombs, “The Same Thing”
72. Azealia Banks, “212”
71. Danielson, “Olympic Portions”
70. AraabMuzik, “Streetz Tonight”
69. Gauntlet Hair, “Keep Time”
68. Hooray for Earth, “Sails”
67. James Blake, “Not Long Now”
66. The Men, “If You Leave…”
65. Deerhunter, “Nosebleed”
64. Son Lux, “Claws”
63. Neon Indian, “Polish Girl”
62. Chelsea Wolfe, “MER”
61. Terius Nash, “Wedding Crasher”
60. I Break Horses, “I Kill You Love, Baby”
59. Fever Ray, “The Wolf”
58. Grouper, “She Loves Me That Way”
57. R.E.M. feat. Eddie Vedder, “It Happened Today”
56. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Tigers”
55. Cold Cave, “Confetti”
54. Eleanor Friedberger, “My Mistakes”
53. Dum Dum Girls, “Wrong Feels Right”
52. …And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead, “Pure Radio Cosplay”
51. Ford and Lopatin, “Emergency Room”
50. Rihanna, “We Found Love”
49. Alex Turner, “Hiding Tonight”
48. jj, “New Work”
47. Anna Calvi, “Jezebel”
46. Other Lives, “For 12”
45. The Weeknd, “Lonely Star”
44. Baxter Dury, “Trophies”
43. Bright Eyes, “Ladder Song”
42. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, “Ffunny Ffriends”
41. Wild Flag, “Something Came Over Me”
40. …And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead, “Ebb Away”
39. Thom Yorke, Burial and Four Tet, “Ego”
38. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “Belong”
37. Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”
36. Ladytron, “90 Degrees”
35. Blood Orange, “Are You Sure You're Really Busy?”
34. Jamie xx, “Far Nearer”
33. Little Dragon, “Ritual Union”
32. Todd Terje, “Snooze for Love”
31. Charli XCX, “Nuclear Seasons”
30. Nicki Minaj, “Super Bass”
29. Liturgy, “Returner”
28. Ringo Deathstarr, “Your Town”
27. Danny Brown, “Party All the Time”
26. Burial, “Street Halo”
25. Class Actress, “Weekend”
24. I Break Horses, “Winter Beats”
23. Gem Club, “Breakers”
22. Boris, “Spoon”
21. Peaking Lights, “All the Sun That Shines”
20. Jai Paul, “BTSTU”
19. Dirty Beaches, “Lord Knows Best”
18. Yuck, “Get Away”
17. Radiohead, “Supercollider”
16. Jay-Z and Kanye West feat Frank Ocean, “Made In America”
15. Zoo Kid, “Out Getting Ribs”
14. Latern on the Lake, “Lungs Quicken”
13. Crystal Antlers, “Dog Days”
12. Twerps, “Coast to Coast”
11. Purity Ring, “Ungirthed”
10. Grimes, “Oblivion”
9. Lana Del Rey, “Video Games”
8. Other Lives, “Tamer Animals”
7. Future Islands, “Give Us the Wind”
6. Dum Dum Girls, “Hold Your Hand”
5. John Maus, “Believer”
4. Charli XCX, “Stay Away”
3. The Rapture, “How Deep Is Your Love?”
2. Bombay Bicycle Club, “Still”
1. Florence and the Machine, “What the Water Gave Me”